About

Jacksonville, Florida, United States

30.3862-81.5575

The Dames Point Bridge (officially the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge) is a cable-stayed bridge over the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida on State Road 9A. Construction began in 1985 and it was completed in 1989. The main span is 1300 feet, and is 175 feet high. The bridge was designed by HNTB Corporation and built by Massman Construction Company.

Until the completion of the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick, Georgia in 2003, it was the only bridge in the United States to feature the harp (parallel) stay arrangement.[citation needed] The cables are arranged on multiple vertical planes, making a slight modification to the harp arrangement. Main span cables are paired to anchor into the tower in a vertical plane. Side span cables pair up to anchor in a horizontal plane. By doing this, four cables anchor in the tower at approximately the same elevation.

The Dames Point Bridge was the third cable-stayed bridge built in the Western hemisphere,[dubious – discuss] and currently the 79th largest in the World on the List of largest cable-stayed bridges

On May 15, 1989, the rope holding up a bucket used in an inspection of the bridge failed, leaving workers trapped. All workers were successfully rescued. The story of this rescue effort was aired on Rescue 911 on September 12 of the same year (see video).